Estate agents are using artificial intelligence to transform property photographs into homes that do not exist, a practice the BBC has dubbed “housefishing”, with buyers and renters saying they are being misled. The portal Rightmove said AI-generated imagery is allowed only if clearly labelled, and under consumer law that came into force in April 2025, misleading listing images can be unlawful.
The gap between platform policy and everyday practice is the problem. The BBC said it had seen listings watermarked “Virtually staged” or “Artificially enhanced”, but many others carried no disclosure, leaving viewers to discover the difference only when they arrive.
What buyers and renters found
Jessica Otterwell, who is hunting for a flat in Brighton, told the BBC: “It’s like if you went to buy a car because the picture was of a brand-new Mercedes and you turned up and it was a Skoda with one wheel.” She said she had excitedly told her parents about a potential purchase, only to find “an absolute hovel” with “nothing apart from a stained mattress on the floor.”
Leyla Ledwith, 31, who searched for a rental in Brighton for three months, said only two of the dozen properties she viewed had the furnishings seen on Rightmove. “It is false advertisement, it is totally off-putting and really frustrating,” she said, adding that it wasted time for renters, buyers, sellers, landlords and agents alike.
Why agents do it
David Vaughan, director of Sussex-based Aston Vaughan, said AI staging solved a problem for both sides. “For owners, it’s a huge cost saving. Physical staging can cost anywhere from £5,000 on average up to £50,000 just to show a property with furniture in,” he told the BBC, adding that empty rooms are hard to read for scale. The Surrey and Hampshire agency Warren Powell-Richards said it was not anti-AI but believed the technology was “a tool, and not a substitute for trust.” Miles & Barr, in East Kent, said AI and CGI had been common practice for some time. Chris Norris, chief policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association, said listing sites must apply the technology responsibly to avoid confusing users.
The rules that apply
The legal framework shifted on 6 April 2025, when the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force, replacing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance, CMA207, says the rules cover anything traders do that could affect consumers’ decisions, including advertising and the promotion of property.
Section 226 prohibits misleading actions, including false or misleading information and deceptive overall presentation. Section 227 prohibits omitting material information. The guidance explicitly treats the decision “whether to view a property” as a transactional decision, and judges practices by their effect on the “average consumer.” That means an AI image that creates a false impression of a property’s condition or furnishings can breach the rules if it is likely to cause a viewer to take a decision they would not otherwise have taken.
Some misleading practices are criminal offences, carrying fines or up to two years’ imprisonment. The CMA now has direct enforcement powers, and the guidance notes monetary penalties of up to the higher of £300,000 or 10 percent of worldwide turnover for certain breaches. Propertymark, the professional body, said the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team’s Material Information guidance had been withdrawn as the DMCC Act took over, and that no sector-specific guidance had yet been issued, leaving agents to assess what the average consumer needs to know.
What viewers can do
Rightmove said agents are responsible for the content they upload and that it takes action where images are misleading, including requiring amendments or removing listings. For buyers and renters, the practical defences are:
- Look for disclosure labels such as “Virtually staged” or “Artificially enhanced”.
- Ask the agent for unedited photographs and a floor plan before travelling.
- Treat the viewing as the test of what is really there.
- Complain to the agent and its redress scheme, and report misleading practices to the CMA.
The technology is not going away, and virtual staging can legitimately help buyers visualise empty space. The line the law draws is disclosure and accuracy: an image may dress a room, but it must not misrepresent the property. The BBC’s findings suggest that line is being crossed often enough to matter.
